DigiTrust

Industry consortium attempting to establish a universal identity standard

DigiTrust was a non-profit consortium launched in 2017 by major advertising technology companies to create a standardized, privacy-focused identity solution for digital advertising. The initiative was designed to provide a universal user ID that could be shared across participating publishers and advertisers, reducing the reliance on third-party cookies while maintaining user privacy through transparency and consent mechanisms. DigiTrust was managed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Tech Lab and gained significant industry support from major AdTech players. The consortium aimed to address growing privacy concerns and fragmentation in digital identity by creating an open-source, standardized approach to user identification. Publishers and advertisers could implement DigiTrust to recognize users across different websites without relying solely on traditional cookie-based tracking. The solution emphasized user control and transparency, allowing consumers to opt out of tracking while providing the industry with a more reliable alternative to third-party cookies. In 2018, DigiTrust was acquired by IAB Tech Lab, which continued to operate it as an industry utility. However, the initiative was ultimately shut down in July 2020 following concerns raised by European privacy regulators about its compliance with GDPR requirements. The closure of DigiTrust reflected the broader challenges facing identity solutions in the AdTech industry as privacy regulations tightened and the industry moved toward more privacy-preserving alternatives.